We caught up with creative small business owner Helen Ashley of Colour Me Art to find out what inspires her and what she loves about colour.

What (or who) inspires you, that encourages you to reach out and make things happen?

My kids. Constantly looking at things in a fresh way. Nature. Fascinated with Australia’s wild and wonderful scenery and animals . Travel. I take a lot of photos wherever I go.

Encouragement from my family to make things happen. Less talk , more action.

Travel is my best injection of inspiration. Despite three kids, my priority is always travel rather than material stuff. I take hundreds of photos and savour and draw on them until my next trip. The kids take great shots too.

It’s obvious you’ve always had a passion for art and colour, was it nurtured as a child and through to adulthood or was it something you had to make happen for yourself?

Apparently I was laughing at colour and pattern at three weeks according to my mother. I still remember some of the patterns of her dresses. We are talking 1960 \ 70s! My visual memory is very good although I am hopeless with names!

I was christened Helen Laura Ashley . Quite fitting for my career I suppose although it was annoying when I lived in London and the telephone would ring about cushions or curtains!

My mum was a primary school teacher and taught art amongst other things. All of my siblings paint in some form for their living so yes creativity was very much nurtured when I was growing up.

I like to paint, draw and photograph. I recently sent myself to sculpture classes which was great. Creating in 3D for a change. I would like to have the time to explore that. My true passion is colour . I couldn’t live without it. Whether playing with colours in a salad or arranging flowers in a vase, its everywhere and I love it!

What do you enjoy most about having a creative business?

Having worked for people like Sheridan, Collette Dinnigan or Alex Liddy, it is great to at last put my own name on my ColourMeArt product range. I enjoy the flexibility of working from home and that going to the art gallery / museum or snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef is legitimate research for me! I really enjoy teaching kids about art and colour. It’s in my blood! I have done lots of volunteer teaching at my kids’ various schools. I find teaching kids a lot more enjoyable than the lecturing at Uni I have done in the past!

What’s been the best thing for the business that you just stumbled upon?

Realised that I am really enjoying building up relationships with shop keepers as I sell ColourMeArt wholesale too. Some really lovely people out there willing to share their experiences and knowledge.

What would be your top 5 tips you’d give to someone to nurture their own creative energies?

1. Make your goal achievable so you aren’t trying too much at once. Start small.

2. Go to a class. Even though I spent 4 years at Art School, a class is brilliant for nurturing your creativity and you might discover something new\ meet someone inspiring.

3. Take photographs , keep cards, keep a nice leaf from the park, a corner of a flyer with a nice colour combination. Collect collect! Stick it on a pin board and see it as a type of drawing , collecting information \ inspiration.

4. Take no notice of negative criticisms. Blot them out if you can. Most great creativity is the journey, not the end product. Keep going!

5. Try and find a space in your house \ apartment where you can spread out , get messy and you don’t have to pack away all the time. It all gets too hard if you have to be too neat!